it was part of our reality -- it was part of our economic philosophy and ideology and religion. and what the u.s. wanted for a long time was not a devaluation of the dollar, but a revaluation of other currencies. well, this was politically and economically difficult, and unacceptable for other countries, so we were in a logjam. we were really in a block that we didn't know how to get out of. schoumacher: the united states pressured foreign central banks to retain their dollars. the government also tried to restrict the amount of money invested or spent overseas, but to little avail. none of these acts could halt the growing dollar glut, nor convince currency speculators that the dollar would not be devalued. speculators dumped billions worth of dollars on the foreign exchange markets. by the time richard nixon assumed the presidency, the system so carefully crafted at brettonoods was on the verge of collapse. dr. marina von neuman whitman, former economic advisor to president nixon. the overall system needed to be reformed and overhauled, and that in order to set the stage for t